A Police source later added: “The tree roots gave out in the heavy rain which probably softened the soil around them, and it fell on the car that was being driven by a female who escaped without any injury.”

The elderly woman is believed to have frozen to death in her garden and three men are in hospital after a bin lorry overturned in high winds on the M27 as chaos swept Britain today.

Cars were stranded under water, commuters faced misery on the road and rail network and residents sandbagged their homes as the country braced for more than two inches of rain – a fortnight’s worth – in just a few hours.